In weight lifting, a popular exercise is the bench press in which the weight lifter must assume a prone position on a bench, remove the barbell from a safety shelf, and to lift and lower the barbell through a series of repetitions. However, if the weight lifter is unable to complete a repetition and return the barbell to its original position, there is a real danger that the barbell will fall on the head, neck or upper torso of the weight lifter and may cause serious injury.
In the past, safety apparatus has been devised to avoid such incidents as described. However, to the best of my knowledge, apparatus that is presently available either does not fully protect the head, neck and shoulders of the weight lifter against possible injury or is not sufficiently portable that it can be easily placed on and removed from the weight training bench. In other words, the safety apparatus essentially forms a permanent part of the bench and the bench is not easily utilized for performing other exercises. A representative approach which has been taken in the past are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,998 to M. G. Landin in which a stand fits over opposite sides of a weight lifter's bench and a pair of bars are pivotally mounted on each side of the stand so that they can be moved to an out-of-the-way position and can be adjusted to different levels. Another approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,930 to G. Cormier in which a bench pressing device is mounted on an adjustable stand with upstanding solid sides; however, stands of this type have a tendency to obstruct the freedom of movement of the weight lifter when the head is placed between the sides of the stand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,425 to J. B. Milnar also discloses a resting stand which must be hooked to the bench itself but is not really intended as a protective device which will adequately protect the head, neck and shoulders of the weight lifter. Other U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,205,838 to T. J. McIntosh, 4,249,726 to R. O. Faust, 4,650,186 to M. J. McCreery et al, 4,799,673 to R. W. Selle and 4,799,674 to D. C. Ochab.
It is therefore proposed to provide a portable safety device for bench pressing which can be easily placed on and removed from a weight training bench for the purpose of protecting the head, neck and shoulders of the weight lifter and avoid accidental dropping or falling of a barbell onto the weight lifter in the course of performing bench press exercises.